We Delete; Erase (2008)

Me and my friend Jon had a conversation late last year about how serious Sargent House is blowing up. The management company and record label was picking up some bigger artists for both sectors of their operations, but it was great to see because those acts they were adding were actually independent-minded and creative and talented and all about the music they actually created.

The latest band to help this argument is Indiana's Native, whose We Delete; Erase EP is full of fairly challenging math-rock that doesn't entangle you as much as Don Caballero but gets a little more head-spinning than Minus the Bear. It's quite a pleasing middle ground.

The combination of semi-abrasive vocals and squealing guitar fuzz on opener "Alpacastan" sound like the perfect hybrid of These Arms Are Snakes and a more restrained Tera Melos. The best may be Track 3, where impressive finger-taps, complex fills and jarring stop-starts illuminate the nearly five-minute "What Are You Dylan in My House?", which even manages to throw in a catchy refrain towards the finish.

Being this EP is close to a year old and about to enter its fourth pressing or so, I imagine we might get something new from the band later this year. If We Delete; Erase is any indication, it's something to look forward to. Keep goin', Sargent House.